Our city, our lives Issue 17 December 2014
Ending 2014 on a high Harare News wins an award for our environmental coverage.
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Meet your councillor Auxilla Mahachi oversees Ward 2, Harare Central.
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Monkeys killed Horror in Meyrick Park as resident monkeys are poisoned.
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Terrific at 10 Tanya Muzinda: EU Ambassador and motocross champ.
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Council flouts Environmental Act Stephen Tsoroti
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ity Council and their partners in the property development business continue their attempts to destroy Harare’s last remaining wetlands unchecked and in violation and disregard for the Environment Act and the citizens they claim to serve. The recent endorsement by council of yet another massive development on gazetted wetlands in Marlborough and Ashbrittle is, in the eyes of residents and environmental experts, a breach of the laws that safeguard against the destruction of critical ecosystems. It would be another nail in the coffin of Harare’s already beleaguered water supply. According to the Marlborough Local Plan 45, Amendment 1, Final Plan, currently posted at
Marlborough District Office, Dawn Properties plans to build blocks of flats, cluster houses, medium density houses and an office park on both Ashbrittle and Marlborough vleis. The Plan has been on display since 1 November until 12 December, and will become effective immediately on 15 December if no objections are raised by residents. This is the second time the Plan has been put to residents. Residents objected in the first instance, citing a host of reasons including: loss of water, biodiversity and environmental damage as well as the absence of a sewer treatment plant after the decommissioning of one that used to serve Avonlea. The inability by Council to supply residents with Environmental Impact Assessments of the wetlands – a legal prerequisite for any development
anywhere – was also raised. The Marlborough development project is being funded through mortgages from CABS, a subsidiary of Old Mutual. CABS has, however, distanced themselves from the developments. According to Tendai Mutseyekwa, Old Mutual Group Senior Communications Consultant, CABS is an institution that grants mortgages to anyone who approaches it with a financial need. Council’s shortsightedness is nothing new however. In the last two years, they have approved controversial developments by Augur Investments subsidiaries West Property (under the wing of Ken Sharpe), on the National Stadium wetland, Borrowdale West wetland and Highlands vlei. After stiff protest by Highlands residents, the Continued on page 2
Matron Doto watches on as a colourful fish mobile is hung in the Burns Unit of Harare Children’s Hospital.
Artist brings colour and hope to Harare Hospital Staff Writer
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elebrated Zimbabwean artist, Wayne Stutchbury, has collaborated with his students to brighten up the Burns Unit in the Children’s Ward of Harare Hospital.
November saw the installation of two brightly decorated fish mobiles in the otherwise drab rooms. The pieces are instantly recognisable as Stutchbury’s work and bring his creativity to those most in need of hope. Stutchbury carved the fish
and assembled the mobile, but it was his students, who range from eight to eighty years old, who painted them in bright colours. The atmosphere in the Burns Unit is grave. The victims have endured pain beyond telling. So serious are
their injuries, each patient needs an individual nurse, especially during mealtimes, when many of the children are fed via syringe through heavy bandaging that conceals excruciating, blistered flesh. Since most of the children are flat
on their backs, the mobile has been hung high. It is a huge injection of colour into what must be dreary days for the kids, most of whom cannot even fully comprehend what has happened to them. Continued on page 2